[GTALUG] Fan Control on Linux

[ac]

On Tue, 14 Nov 2017 14:09:51 -0500
Giles Orr via talk <talk at gtalug.org> wrote:
<sanity snip>
> >> keyword, 'may' on my notebook the main fan has two pins but it has
> >> variable speed... so i guess ymmv
> >> so +1 for checking the manual or contact manufacturer
> >> website/support 
> >> > manual. As this is a laptop you may find it hard to locate
> >> > information about fan control.
> >> > You could add a circuit to do variable speed control of the fan
> >> > but it may be difficult, if not impossible, to fit it in to the
> >> > laptop case. 
> >> again depending on notebook/laptop model... many of the older
> >> models (before space became such a fixating factor) actually has
> >> lots of crawl space, just yesterday i added some custom components
> >> to one of my old HP's and recall thinking how cool it is that it
> >> can all fit inside the case :)
> As I mentioned in my initial post, the fan speed is variable, so it
> seems clear it's controllable.  Just not - so far - by Linux.
> 

so, lm-sensors (sensors-detect) / pwmconfig & sensors and/or
fancontrol (https://linux.die.net/man/8/fancontrol) does not work?

then, surely checking manual (for custom requirements) or contacting
manufacturer is the only way to go, or am i missing something?

on my linux fancontrol is enabled by default and with default config

I also found this, which explains the tech behind fan control quite well:
http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2559018/fan-speed-control-pin-pin-pin.html

as you say, fan speed on your rig is variable, so afaik it is a question
of 2-pin, 3-pin & 4-pin and your modules, config and software.

hth

Andre